Karen Danson, a staff nurse at Darlington Memorial Hospital, has given a powerful and deeply personal witness testimony as part of an Employment Tribunal case against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust.
Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Karen and seven other nursing colleagues at Darlington Memorial Hospital have brought the landmark case which started on Wednesday 22 October at Newcastle Employment Tribunal.
The nurses, represented in court by Niazi Fetto KC, are claiming Violation of Article 8 ECHR, harassment, indirect discrimination and victimisation.
The first nurse to give evidence before Employment Judge Sweeney is Karen Danson, whose witness statement, admitted in evidence before the Tribunal, sheds light on a traumatic incident involving a male colleague who identifies as a woman, alleged failures by NHS management to protect staff, and the wider implications for workplace safety and dignity.
Karen described a disturbing incident in the female changing room in September 2023 involving a colleague, ‘Rose’ Henderson (Mr Henderson), who identifies as a woman.
Karen recounts being alone with Mr Henderson, who was “half-dressed, in a scrub top and tight black boxer shorts with holes in them,” and repeatedly asked her, “Are you not getting changed yet?”— despite her visibly distressed state.
“I was shaking, hyperventilating and sweating. My eyes filled up with tears… I was quietly sobbing,” she said. “I was petrified and it came across in the way I was speaking.”
Karen explains that she had seen Mr Henderson around the surgical theatres but did not know he identified as a woman. Mr Henderson appeared masculine, had facial hair, and nothing in his appearance suggested otherwise.
“I just thought he was a new male member of staff,” Karen said.
She recounts walking into the changing room and passing Mr Henderson’s locker to reach her own.
Alone with Mr Henderson, she was rummaging through her bag for her locker keys when she heard a male voice behind her say, “Are you not getting changed yet?”
She replied “No” and continued searching. After opening her locker, Mr Henderson repeated the question. She again said “No,” increasingly alarmed by his presence and behaviour.
“[Mr Henderson] was half-dressed, in a scrub top and tight black boxer shorts with holes in them. A quick look left no room for doubt that he was a man.”
Mr Henderson stood about two metres away, clearly watching her. No one else was in the room, and Danson could hear the pin pad at the door, confirming no one had entered.
Mr Henderson was facing away but looking over his shoulder, watching her. She forgot what she was looking for, pulled out her phone, and sat on the bench near the lockers.
“I started messaging my husband: ‘Finished work. Just getting changed, see you soon.’ As I was typing, Mr Henderson again said: ‘Are you not getting changed yet?’ That was the third time in less than five minutes.”
Danson describes a “fight or flight” response, feeling glued to her seat, sick, and sweaty.
She tried to distract herself with a game on her phone. Eventually, she heard the PIN code at the door and realised Mr Henderson had left.
PTSD triggered by incident
The encounter triggered severe PTSD symptoms linked to childhood abuse, including nightly nightmares and flashbacks. Karen’s health deteriorated, and she was signed off work due to stress.
Despite raising concerns with multiple colleagues, including wellbeing representatives, Karen says her complaints were ignored. She and other nurses felt silenced by fear of being labelled ‘transphobic.’
“I was scared of the backlash and being called transphobic,” she explains. “All our concerns were simply ignored by the management.”
In March 2024, Karen joined 25 other nurses and healthcare assistants in signing a collective letter to management, seeking safer changing arrangements. However, the nurses were repeatedly ignored and told, which included Karen and her experiences, that they needed to ‘broaden their mindsets.’
“It felt very frustrating and like the management had found an excuse not to hear my account of the events”, Karen said.
When legal action was launched and the nurses’ story appeared in the media, Karen remained anonymous.
The climate of fear in the hospital, however, continued to grow and still, despite knowing about her experiences, no one from senior management reached out to Karen to check on her well-being.
Karen describes further intimidation, including another close encounter with Mr Henderson in the hospital canteen:
“Someone was standing so close behind me that I could feel them breathing on my neck… I turned round and saw that it was RH.”
Colleagues also reported unsettling behaviour by Mr Henderson on the ward after the nurses’ went public with their case and story.
The Operation Scandal
In July 2024, the Trust offered Karen and her colleagues access to a ‘temporary’ alternative locker room. However, Karen describes the arrangement as both inadequate and humiliating:
“It felt like the Trust was deliberately trying to punish and humiliate anyone who was unwilling to change together with RH.”
Although Mr Henderson now appears to be changing elsewhere, the underlying policy that permitted a male colleague to access the female changing room remains unchanged. Karen says she continues to feel anxious and uncertain:
“We never had any official confirmation that RH would be changing elsewhere… I came to hope – without knowing for sure – that RH was no longer using the changing room.”
In August 2024, Karen faced an even more distressing ordeal. She recounts a battle to prevent Mr Henderson from being involved in her gynaecological surgery. Despite disclosing her history of trauma, she was told by a theatre manager:
“You are not my concern, my concern is Rose.”
It was only after Karen submitted a formal complaint via the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) that Mr Henderson was removed from the surgical team.
Meeting Wes Streeting
While still anonymous, Karen travelled with her colleagues to meet health secretary, Wes Streeting. Mr Streeting agreed to meet the nurses after saying he was ‘horrified’ by their case.
Karen told him her story and Mr Streeting responded saying: ‘How could I sit here and tell you that you need to ‘broaden your mindset?’
After months of inaction, however, and interest and concern for the nurses building, Karen courageously decided to go public with her story.
After the Darlington Nursing Union wrote to Mr Streeting making him aware of Karen’s story in the media, NHS England were told to inspect the changing facilities and urgently resolve the issue.
To this day, no one in senior management has reached out to Karen.
Morally Indefensible
Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of the Christian Legal Centre, commented:
“Karen Danson’s statement is a stark account of trauma and institutional neglect. Her testimony will be central to the tribunal’s consideration of whether the Trust failed in its duty of care to staff.
“Karen’s story is heart-breaking and deeply troubling. It reveals the devastating consequences of prioritising gender identity ideology over the basic safety, dignity and rights of women in the workplace. No woman should be forced to relive childhood trauma simply because her employer refuses to provide single-sex changing facilities.
“The law is clear: women have the right to privacy and protection from harassment. The NHS Trust’s actions are not only morally indefensible, they are legally untenable.”
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